WebCT Announces Real-Time Delivery of MERLOT Learning Objects; WebCT Vista PowerLink for MERLOT Unleashes Power of Learning Objects in Teaching and Learning

Business Wire, Oct 21, 2004

DENVER -- WebCT, provider of higher education's most flexible and widely used e-learning solutions, today unveiled a powerful new way for higher education institutions and their students to take full advantage of learning objects in real time.

The WebCT PowerLink(TM) for MERLOT, released today, supports continuous delivery of up-to-the-minute learning object links directly to WebCT courses. The links originate in higher education's leading online content clearinghouse, MERLOT - the Multimedia Educational Resource for Learning and Online Teaching. MERLOT is a free and open resource for faculty and students dedicated to improving access to high quality learning resources in higher education. The links point to RSS feeds from MERLOT of learning objects such as animations, simulations, case studies and tutorials in 15 subject areas from biology to world languages.

These RSS feeds allow instructors immediate access to the newest learning objects in their areas of interest. The new WebCT PowerLink delivers MERLOT learning object links to WebCT courses via the Internet within 15 minutes of the time they are posted in www.merlot.org. As a result, faculty and students for the first time have simple, real-time access to higher education's newest sharable learning objects -- without requiring any programming.

"Higher education institutions have many options for incorporating MERLOT learning objects in online courses," said John St. Clair, executive director of training and technical services, Tennessee Board of Regents. "Faculty can point students to individual learning objects or groups that are continually refreshed on their course pages. Students can view learning objects as enrichment. Faculty members can transform learning objects into fully interactive WebCT content pages or assignments with a point and a click. This first taste of real-time learning object delivery is chapter one in what will be an exciting story of learning object exchange, and unlimited educational possibilities, in higher education."

No e-learning system is more tightly integrated with the MERLOT community than WebCT. To activate the learning object link delivery, faculty members simply use a drop-down menu within the WebCT PowerLink to select from 30 different feeds based on the learning object's subject and level of peer review.

"The promise of MERLOT and WebCT is to help universities and colleges, their faculty and students design effective learning experiences with online materials," said Gerry Hanley, executive director of MERLOT. "WebCT provides the critical service for faculty to transform a collection of MERLOT content into meaningful curriculum. The MERLOT-WebCT partnership will continue to collaborate in improving our combined services for higher education."

The delivery of information on the new learning resources is based on "RSS," or "really simple syndication," technology, an XML-based scheme for real-time updates of narrowly defined Web content. The technical aspects of RSS, however, are conveniently shielded from the user and managed through the WebCT PowerLink.

WebCT announced the WebCT RSS Feed PowerLink for MERLOT today at EDUCAUSE 2004, the annual higher education IT summit, taking place this year in Denver. WebCT will demonstrate a WebCT Vista(TM) course built from MERLOT learning objects delivered via the WebCT PowerLink. The customer presentation will explore MERLOT learning objects within a math course -- including easy development of courses to address all ranges of students' baseline skills, from remedial to advanced. The presentation will take place today at 2:45 p.m. at the WebCT booth (#318).

"Learning objects' time has arrived, and they're knocking down the boundaries of online course creation in much the same way that distance learning toppled brick-and-mortar boundaries," said Carol Vallone, WebCT's president and CEO. "Whether they are ready now or in the future, higher education institutions want to be able to reap maximum value from learning objects for decades to come. That's why we've created the PowerLink for MERLOT and have incorporated important learning object standards into our WebCT Vista content repository."

The WebCT RSS Feed PowerLink for MERLOT is available for download at the WebCT PowerLinks showcase found at www.webct.com/powerlinks.> About WebCT

WebCT has set the standard for e-learning systems in higher education. Based in Lynnfield, Mass., WebCT provides a highly flexible e-learning environment that empowers institutions across the educational spectrum with the ability to achieve their unique objectives. Thousands of colleges and universities around the world - from community colleges to large university consortia - are using WebCT to expand the boundaries of teaching and learning. For more information, please visit www.webct.com.